Broken Glass
by taLoNxHaWk
Summary: When the Storm Hawks and Cyclonians are stranded in the Black Gorge and must rely on each other for help, just how much will they learn about their enimies and themselves in the process? DAxP AxMC FxR implied StorkxStarling & DAxStarling
1. Sleep My Angel

_Yes so I was listening to Buckcherry's song Broken Glass when I wrote this and all the chapter names will have something to do with the song or lyrics._

_This is also a spin on things because they are always getting stranded in the wastelands, so I decided to try something a little different. _

_Let me know if its good or not._

_Enjoy_

_**________**_

_Chapter 1. Sleep My Angel_

Black. That's all there was, endless black. So dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Somewhere in the abyss a voice, deep and gravely, rang out.

"Dang it's too dark, I can't see anything. "Something shifted and the sound of ragged breathing could be herd before commenting dryly,

"That's why they call it the _Black_ Gorge, Snipe."

"Oh great, I thought we saw the last of this place." another voice said, this one being female, having a slight break at the end. There was more shifting and something heavy fell on the ground, causing the girl to gasp.

"Finn, was that your skimmer?"

"Yeah Junko, well what's left of it anyways."

"Well this sucks." Finn said, trying to sit up without knocking anything else over causing him to become aware of a sharp pain in his left arm.

"Understatement of the year, kid." another female voice said, this one more mature and strict.

"Ravess, you ok?" Snipe asked his sister, despite the fact the Storm Hawks were present. Ravess blinked in surprise for a moment before answering,

"My shoulder's bleeding, but I think I'll live." Snipe nodded, forgetting that she couldn't see him.

"Is everyone else ok?" Piper asked, going through her backpack for a flashlight.

"Ow, my head hurts, a lot." They herd Aerrow say as she found the flashlight, thanking the Lord that Stork had made one that _didn't _use crystals. Actually she didn't know what it used but it worked and that's what mattered. Flicking the switch, the light shone bright, giving everyone a good look at each other. All of the skimmers were totaled, and of no use now, pieces of them littering the ground.

Piper looked at everyone from her standing position. Finn and Junko were to her left, Finn supporting a gash in his forearm but looking otherwise unharmed; Junko looked perfectly fine barr being covered in dirt.

Looking to the right, Aerrow was laying down

but his eyes were open and looking around, more precisely at Dark Ace who was leaning back, eyes closed on what was left of a skimmer.

Ravess was next to Aerrow, and Piper could see a large spot of blood on her shoulder, but she seemed to care little. Snipe was near Dark Ace and looked no worse than Junko, only dirt and smudges on his clothing.

Piper was startled out of her observations by the female talon commander speaking in a tone of boredom. "The Sky Knight is hurt."

Piper walked over to her friend and got a feeling of dread as she saw the blood in his hair that she couldn't see when she wasn't close to him. "Oh no." Aerrow looked at her with a painful expression on his face.

"Ok, um . . . oh I don't know to do." The girl said sadly, trying to keep herself from crying.

She herd a quiet scoff and then someone took the flashlight from her shaking hands. Glancing up she saw it was Dark Ace and he was shining the light into Aerrow's eyes, causing her sad look to change to a glare.

"What are you doing?!" She barked at the talon, whose only response was to throw the flashlight at her.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

She wasn't sure where this courage came from, but it was there so she may as well use it. He merely rolled his eyes and spoke to Aerrow. "Ok brat, just answer the questions so I can tell if your brain damaged or not." Aerrow slowly nodded.

"Name?"

"Aerrow."

"Age?"

"15."

"Where were you born?"

"Terra Atmosia."

He then inspected the spot where she presumed Aerrow was bleeding from while replied in what sounded like a tightly controlled voice "He'll be fine, no concussion, just a bad scratch."

Though she was happy that Aerrow was ok, it was strange hearing it from Dark Ace of all people.

------

Ravess watched as the Sky Knight sat up slowly and gave the girl a reassuring smile and sent the blond a thumbs up.

_Children_. She thought with distain, rolling her eyes with the thought.

"So, what now?" Finn said holding his arm loosely and giving a hopeful glance at Piper.

Already getting bored with their conversation she turned her attention to Snipe and Dark Ace, accessing them both. Snipe had a dark bruise forming on his arm and cheek, but otherwise seemed bored.

Dark Ace she was more concerned about. He looked pale and had his hand on his side, and winced each time he moved. His breathing had also become progressively more shallow; she walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to glance up at her with a questioning look in his eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asked.

"Yes, I'm fine." he replied, brushing her hand away and turning around to face her. She eyed him, not really believing it, but dropping the subject for now.

They stared at each other for a moment before turning away.

She jumped when she herd the blond yell rather loudly, "I'M NOT WORKING WITH THEM!!

IT'S THEIR FAULT WE'RE _STRANDED_ IN THE_ BLACK GORGE!!"_

"Yeah, that's not going to attract the attention of something that could kill us." she herd Dark Ace remark. Finn turned his murderous gaze on the dark haired man, and again continued to yell.

"Oh, shut up it's your fault were stuck here." Dark Ace raised an eyebrow, not quite fallowing the boys skewed logic, if any. "Really? Ok then enlighten me on how this is_ my_ fault." He asked sarcastically, knowing Finn didn't have any proof what so ever.

As expected he just stood there for a minute before coming up with "Well you're the bad guy so it's automatically your fault." This only caused Dark Ace to laugh despite the pain it caused his ribs, and said

"If that's how you think the world works, you won't live much longer." To which the teen gave him a seething glare, but said nothing else, opting to turn back and give Piper a I-told-you-so look.

The girl only sighed in exasperation and put a determined look on her face, and placed her hands on her hips stating firmly "Finn, I don't really care what you or don't want to do, because your not the most important thing right now, right now we need to get out of here as soon as possible. Now you will get over yourself and stop complaining."

Silence. Everyone stared at her in shock, especially Finn who just stood there dumbfounded not fully comprehending exactly what she said.

"Finally, someone put that brat in his place." Ravess said laughing slightly. Piper opened her mouth to say something but was cut off.

"How are you so sure we will work with you?"

Piper looked thoughtful for a moment be for replying "Simple, power in numbers for one and second, we've been down here before, you need us weather you like it or not." Ravess raised an eyebrow at her statement, noting that the others were oddly quiet the hole time.

"Will you help?"

_The question_

"Yes."

_The __answer._

_______

Last note here are the parings:

_Dark Ace x Piper_

_Finn x Ravess_

_Aerrow x Cyclonis_

_Implied Stork x Starling_

_(Ya weird I know, but oh well ^__^)_

_Implied Dark Ace x Starling_

_( Just a fling when they were younger)_


	2. So Far

_Hey, ok so here's the second chapter, sorry 'bout the long wait, school and a rare bit of writers block but its all good now._

_This chapter was written while listening to So Far (Buckcherry, -15)_

_Great album go listen to it, and let me know what you think. _

_P.S. Kinda got writers block on Tales from Cyclonia for those that read it, so I have no idea when it will be updated, but it shouldn't be more than a month._

_Thanks_

_-taLoN_

_____________

_Chapter 2. So Far_

Aerrow

Finn

Junko

Piper

Ravess

Dark Ace

Snipe.

_Hmm. . . Ok so having seven people is a good thing and a bad thing. _Piper thought as she counted everyone to help asses the situation. On one hand it was good to have so many, the more people they had the better their chances were at fending off the creatures lurking around. On the other hand it also meant they had to split the few supplies they had seven different ways. That could be a potential problem._ I guess I'll have to keep everyone in check._

Putting on a stern look, Piper stood in front of the small group and decided to take charge.

"Ok guys lets see if we can find any supplies that may have survived."

The group nodded and got to work.

_Stork, Starling, please come find us soon._ Piper thought sadly as she helped Aerrow dig through the remains of his skimmer.

________________

With Stork and Starling

After taking down the last Talon, Starling pulled into the hanger on the_ Condor _and was immediately accosted by a panicked Merb. It took her a moment to figure out what he was saying

"OhontheregoneStarlingit'sallmyfaulttheregoneIdon'tknowwhat-"

"STORK!" the woman yelled causing him to stop momentarily before he began twitching and mumbling quietly, eyes darting around rapidly. He was shaking and breathing rapidly, and looked to be on the verge of a mental breakdown, making Starling wonder what had worked him into such a panicked frenzy.

Sighing softly Starling began gently "Ok Stork what's wrong?"

"There gone, I don't know what happened." the Merb looked at her pleadingly. She gave him a questioning look, silently wondering if he had lost another one of his dangerous pets.

"Who's go-" it was then that she noticed that the Storm Hawks were gone.

She began again, "Wha-"

The Merb cut her off "I don't know, one minute they were there then the next, there gone." His shaking got worse and the purple haired Sky Knight was at a loss of what to do.

Then Stork had a horrifying thought that made him stop all movement of any kind. "What if they're dead."

It was more of a statement than a question. Dread filled Starling, but she quickly squashed the feeling, now was not the time for that.

"Don't worry Stork, I'm sure there fine. Let's see if they ended up on one of the near by terras." she said, placing her hand on his shoulder in a calming manner. It surprised her slightly when he didn't flinch away, but she didn't pay it much mind, instead focusing on keeping him from going into hysterics again. She knew they were his team, but he didn't really give off the impression that it would affect him much if something happened to them.

Stork nodded and they made their way to the bridge.

_________

"Ok so, what have we got?"

Everyone had managed to grab every useful thing they could get their hands on, but they still hadn't come up with much.

"2 first aid kits, flashlight, dead crystals, food, (thanks to Finn), blankets, 2 knives, and a busted radio." Aerrow listed off each thing they had found.

Piper nodded and looked at the others adding "Anything else?"

"Cell phone." Dark Ace and Ravess chimed in, causing the others to shoot them a look of disbelief.

"You two have cell phones and were still stuck here because. . .?"Finn asked sarcastically.

"No signal." they spoke once again at the same time, bursting everyone's bubble of hope. Groaning Piper once again asked "Anything _else_?" Everyone shook their head. "Good."

Turning around the girl looked around, trying to find a place that seemed promising in the aspect of finding a way out. Scanning the rocky walls that made their current prison, she absently wondered if they had any chance of climbing out but quickly dismissed the thought._ The walls are to steep and the ledges don't look very stable._

Turning back with a sheepish smile she stated "Anyone else want to try?" She regarded their expressions with a hopeful look in her eyes, and she thought she saw Dark Ace smirk before replying

"Maybe we should go that way." pointing behind himself at the path ( sort of) where she could see a small but steady incline. She studied it for a moment before asking "How far does it go?"

He shrugged before answering "I don't know, probably as far as everything else down here."

"And how far would that be?" Aerrow said not quite wanting to hear the answer. Dark Ace shrugged again and looked over to Ravess, waiting for her to answer.

"The last time it was recorded, the Black Gorge was 9.3 clicks across and 43,388,602 clicks long before it disappears into the Great Expanse." (I don't know how much a click is so lets just say that 1 click = 1.27 miles) _Yeah,_ Aerrow thought _didn't wanna hear it._

Finn stared before remarking "And why do you know somthin' like that." the archer looked at him crossly: about to comeback with a biting comment, but she was interrupted by her oh so nice co-worker

"Because she is just a wealth of useless information." turning her glare on him, she spoke to them both sounding like an older sister who was just embarrassed by her little brothers in front of her crush.

"Well you nitwits, it came in handy just now didn't it? I also know a few other things that could come in handy, but if you feel that they are of lesser importance; I shall keep them to myself, find my own way out, and leave you here to rot."

As she spoke they could all hear the dark undercurrent in her voice, though she spoke relatively normally. When she finished Finn and Junko looked ready to wet themselves, Aerrow and Piper seemed cautious, Snipe was trying and failing to keep from laughing, and Dark Ace just snorted. Without missing a beat he said casually

"Don't make idle threats, it will get you nowhere."

"Trust me, I don't."

"We'll see." he said smirking.

______

Finn observed the conversation from the side and couldn't help but respect the fuchsia haired woman. Really, who threatened the_ Dark Ace_ and walked away? Well besides Aerrow.

Exactly, _nobody. _Yet here she was, for the most part perfectly fine, still glaring at him too. Well really she was glaring at everyone, but he couldn't stop staring at her captivating golden eyes. They were always sharp, noting every little detail around her. They were beautiful-

_Wait where did__** that**__ come from? She's the enemy dude, get a hold of yourself._

Finn thought wondering where that lapse in sanity came from.

Shaking his head the blond walked over to talk to Aerrow.

_______

"Is everyone ready?" Aerrow asked as they prepared for the long journey ahead. Everyone gave some form of a yes and they began making their way through the Black Gorge.

_________

_Ok so that's the end of chapter 2. I'll try to make the next one longer, and hopefully it will be but I don't know._

_Chapter 3 will be mostly Dark Ace and Piper, only this will have a little more action, I'm not good with fight scenes so who knows what will happen._

_I'll try to have it up by the 26__th__._

_Review please,_

_tell me what I need to work on, or just tell me what you like. _


	3. Next 2 You

_Here it be, I don't know if its as good as the others but still ; school kills, and I'm now in a band so yeah, awesome but time consuming. _

_Yeah I'll stop ranting, Dark Ace if you will._

_Dark Ace: She doesn't own Storm Hawks and never will_

_taLoN: Thank you_

_Dark Ace: Like you could ever own me._

_taLoN: Cyclonis sure as hell does._

_DA: What was that?!_

_taLoN: NOTHING!!!!_

___________________________________

_**Chapter 3. Next 2 You**_

In the darkness of the gorge, the group slowly made their way towards what they hoped would be a way out, keeping a lookout for anything that could possibly kill them. Aerrow led the small group fallowed closely by Finn and Junko, Ravess and Snipe and bringing up the rear were Piper and Dark Ace. Piper gazed at the map in front of her without really taking any of the information in, she was to busy worrying about the fact that they may actually DIE here, and that thought scared her to no end.

Despite what most people thought, the Storm Hawks were no stranger to death; they had not killed but they had suffered their own individual losses. Aerrow lost his parents when he was only 5 to the Dark Ace, Finn's mother had died while having his baby sister, who later died from illness. Junko's parents died when he was 12 in an accident. She herself had lost her older brother and father to illness, and her mother just left 2 years ago.

The blunette was pulled from her thoughts by her red haired leader. "Piper, you ok?"

She gave him a look of false reassurance before replying "Yes, I'm fine just thinking."

"What about?"

"Aerrow, what if we die here?" she asked causing him to look at her sadly.

Putting his hands on her small shoulders, he said sternly "Piper we are going to make it out of here alive, I promise." Looking into his deep green eyes she saw nothing but honesty, and nodded her head smiling up at him.

"So what brought up such depressing thoughts?" Finn asked, placing his hands behind his head as he walked occasionally glancing back at the two. "Just thinking about family, or lack thereof really." the blonde gave her a sad look before Ravess piped up with "Aww are the kiddies missing mommy and daddy?" causing Snipe to chuckle, but he was the only one since Dark Ace seemed to be lost in his own thoughts, chewing on what Finn identified as a guitar pick.

Piper glared at the archer, and replied rudely "Well the key words in that sentence were 'lack thereof ' "

Ravess just gave her a bored look and said "Well your not the only ones so get over your little pity party and deal with it, stop living in the past." though she said the last part more quietly than the rest.

"Well what about you, I'll bet you had the perfect little family." Aerrow replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah, a witch for a mom and no dad it was great, especially when she just left and Snipe and I got to be street rats. It might surprise you but the good guys aren't the only ones with a crappy past."

"Really? Why did she leave?" Piper asked in genuine surprise, she had never met someone else like her in that respect. Ravess just shrugged and started "Well to help pass the time I guess I'll tell what I remember in a general overview."

""When Snipe was 7 and I was 5, she told us she was going out and she would be back in an hour. Well our mother was a very punctual woman, so when she didn't come home I knew she had abandoned us, and honestly I didn't really care. She never told us she loved us and wouldn't touch us unless it was necessary.

We were living on the streets for 6 years before we started Talon training, I excelled as did Snipe and we eventually became Commanders."

"And Ravess went through about 14 boyfriends before ending up an alcoholic." Snipe added at the end causing him to get his face beat in by his little sister.

"I'm not an alcoholic, idiot."

Finn whistled before saying "Harsh." to which the siblings only shrugged. Then Snipe seemed to get a bright idea ( not )

"Hey Dark Ace you never told us about your parents." Dark Ace looked at him and said "What's to tell, they were both screwed up."

"Come on details Ace." Ravess said coyly, causing Dark Ace to raise an eyebrow before saying "Only if you never call me that again." And Ravess nodded.

"Ok well my dad was a drunk, and my mom was insane."

"So was my mom." Aerrow said causing the dark haired male to shake his head.

"No, I don't mean _my mom is insane, _I mean, _we the jury find the defendant. . ._Diagnosed Manic Depressive, Schizophrenic. You know how most people are kind of balanced out; my mom was way the hell off. Smart but manipulative, beautiful, killed her last husband. She also had a 180 I.Q., spoke 4 different languages and played piano and violin."

"Wow."

"Yes, my parents hated each other too, their divorce settlement involved a bar tab." Piper raised an eyebrow at this.

"Lived with my dad for 4 years, he died then went to live with my mom then she killed herself, lived by myself and was in a band then I was with the Storm Hawks, then Cyclonia." The others just nodded, not really wanting to ask him anything with the look he was giving everyone.

"Talk about dysfunctional." Snipe said shaking his head before everyone suddenly stopped, their eyes watching intently for the source of the noise.

_GWRRRR_

Everyone looked up and was horrified at the sight before them. Piper thought the best way to describe it would be a mutated cross between a Gorge Sloth and a Giant Vulcca bat. It had two sets of furry wings and had the basic body of the Vulcca bat but it had fur and the head shape was that of a Gorge Sloth. It also possessed what looked to be long poisonous claws on each limb, but the scary part was that it was at least 3x as big as a Gorge sloth.

It opened its large mouth to expose fangs that Piper was sure were each about as big as she was, and let loose a piercing shriek, making everyone wince and then glared down at the group.

"Guys get ready; I don't think this thing is going to let us pass without a fight." Aerrow said taking out his only dagger, keeping his eyes trained on the thing. Dark Ace mirrored his movements with his sword while remarking "Really? What gave you that idea."

Aerrow just glared in his general direction. The Bat shifted and everyone tensed, waiting for someone to make the first move.

After what seemed like forever the Bat decided to take its chance and dived at Aerrow. The teen dodged, jumping to the side next to Finn. The Bat created a depression in the ground were Aerrow had been and turned, lunging in one fluid motion at where Dark Ace, Piper, and Ravess were standing; Dark Ace and Piper jumped left and Ravess flattened herself on the ground letting the thing fly over her. Dark Ace pushed Piper out of his way and as the bat came towards him, rolled backwards into a hand stand, kicking it in the jaw and landing back on his feet.

The kick didn't seem to cause any substantial damage, only nock it slightly off balance and anger it. Clawing at the ground with its giant wings as it tried to change course gave Aerrow a chance to strike, dodging one set of wings he grabbed hold of the others and plunged his dagger through the thin layer of fur and skin and into the ground, causing it to shriek in pain and round on the redhead, knocking him out of its way, only to be tackled by Snipe and Junko who managed to hold it down.

Walking over, Dark Ace slit its throat and said quietly "One down."

Piper helped Aerrow up as a gloomy silence filled the air, no one spoke, content to keep their thoughts to themselves. Though everyone was thinking the same thing,

_Will I die here?_

_______________________________________________________

_On schedule?! Wow that's new, sorry about the crappy ending ill try to make the next one better._

_taLoN out. _


End file.
